FREEMANTLE WHARF STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1919, Page 5

FREEMANTLE WHARF STRIKE.

, SERIOUS RIOTING, Fremantlc, May S. The Gqvernment, as tiio result of the, lumpers' strike, announced that it iiad taken possession ot the whnrvei and would work shipping and protect nation- • alist workers, follow;ng on this decision,! barriers were erected on the wharves to. j protect workers. .! When, volunteers were being driven to j work in motors a iarge body oi strikers I met them with a voljey of stones. Tat*.: police arrived with bayonets, but were j powerless. Auot'uer body of volunteers j in a launch attracted the strikers' at ten- i lion, and boulders and stones were ■ showered down from a bridge. Although, : t'ue launch was badly damaged no one [ was injured when the wharf was reached, i Tlie strikers on the bridge were charged • by a large body o£ mounted and foot I police, and a scene of wild confusion en- J sued. After many ou both sides had j been injured the strikers were forced 1 hack. Although repulsed, the strikers again came to the assault, and the situation of the police became so desperate, that the Riot Act was read and cartridges handed out to the police. By this time the crowd had reached enormous dimensions, bellmen having; been sent to the outlying districts for' reinforcements. After several shots.hadv ,been fired and the police again made a. charge, during whioh a returned soldier| received a bayonet wound in the leg, the Government agreed to withdraw th& volunteers from the wharves. After the melee a meeting of returned soldiers carried a resolution announcing their intention to defend their rights against the tyranny of the present Government, and avenge the blood of their u-otinded comrade. , Later in the day a body of 4000 unionists wrecked the employment bureau on the wharf. The total casualties during the riot were 33, of whom 30 were poliee..—Aus.. N.Z. Cable Assoc. THE WORKERS BELLICOSE. Received May 5, 10.5 p.m. Perth, May 5. A big meeting made a demonstration in favor of the Freemantle lumpers. The president of the Labor Federation stated that if the Government intended to fight with loaded rifles and bayonets the men nould do likewise. The lumpers' meeting condemned the Government's action, and demanded the withdrawal of Nationalists from the waterfront. Everything is quiet to-day, but it is stated that the majority of the lumpers are now armed, and determined to fight to the bitter end. Cabinet is considering the situation.